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This lady is having DTES

Don’t do drugs. And be careful with alcohol. If not you might end up like this lady. It’s really scary to think about how fragile the mind is. Think twice before polluting yourself.

There are subliminal themes in Eagle Eye

Our minds are being bombarded with subliminal messages all the time. But what I am going to talk about in this article is something a little different from subliminal stimuli or messages, what I am going to present to you is the idea of Subliminal Themes in movies. What I mean by Subliminal Themes is the idea that movies tell a story, that much is obvious. And in each movie there is a basic plot that the story follows. And within that plot the characters create a theme which is the unifying idea of the story. But I argue a Subliminal Theme is a unifying idea in the movie that one does not perceive consciously and it isn’t actually talked about by the characters, it is instead transmitted to the viewer by short repeated messages and visual concepts throughout the film. And a Subliminal Theme oftentimes over-arches and connects with other films that may or may not be created by the same filmmakers. These Subliminal Themes are created in part by the film itself, and also by the consumers interest and demand for the film. Thus the marketplace helps to create Subliminal Themes and they can extend over long periods of time.

In the movie, Eagle Eye (2008) the main characters are being manipulated by a big computer who is trying to wipe out the main people in the Executive Branch of Government. The reason why it says it is doing this, is because the Executive Branch has become too powerful. The main theme of the movie is that surveillance and networked computer technology has become too sophisticated and powerful and that there needs to be oversight into our own methods of security. But there is an underlying, Subliminal Theme in the movie that isn’t quite as obvious to see. I picked up on it when I saw how the digital technology was directly communicating with the main character, “Jerry” played by Shia LaBeouf. Basically throughout the movie, this computer intelligence is telling Jerry what to do, either by calling him on the phone or by displaying digital messages on electronic billboards and portable devices. There is a connection to be made: Technology has gotten so advanced that it has become a neural network, that can reach you from almost anywhere. This Subliminal Theme has multiple prongs to its mental attack. On one hand, it is sending the idea, that there is no escape from electronic technology and surveillance. And the end result of this is to basically and quite blatantly heighten the viewer’s level of paranoia. But this paranoia isn’t geared to make you not want to use technology. In fact the technology is presented in a very, “Gee wiz. How cool.” sort of way that almost makes being contacted anywhere on the grid seem fun and exciting. The paranoia is trying to make you actually comfortable with being watched. It is in a way trying to prepare and settle down the viewer so that he or she would feel at ease with surveillance. The computer that creates the problem in the first place is portrayed to be so advanced, that it is almost re-assuring to think that there is an intelligence this diligent and well-connected that it is watching over us without hesitation and without rest. So what is the end result of this Subliminal Theme of accepting paranoia? In short, it is becoming one with the surveillance state. We are no longer in Kansas anymore. The system that we live in rewards people who stay connected with increased exposure and opportunities. Yet in order to gain these connections and opportunities one must sacrifice a layer of privacy with each turn. We are being directed, herded like sheep or cattle really, in the direction of being transparent to the system. And strangely we aren’t really becoming naked before some kind of supercomputer that is tracking us. We are in reality self-monitoring each other. Big Brother is in fact the very friends you have made. We are remodeling our own images each moment we post something to our Facebook Wall, in order to gain more approval and interest from our friends and in many cases online acquaintances. The government’s biggest ally in surveillance and controlling the masses is us. Eagle Eye uses slight of hand to make us think that we are threatened by super-powerful futuristic computers. When in fact we are in fact being controlled by one of human society’s biggest tools: The desire to both fit in, and to be unique. When online, people are rewarded by being unique by getting more attention from their peers. A cool picture will be, “Liked” and a funny post will get a “thumbs up.” Yet at the same time people will get massive attention by discussing the mundane aspects of life on their “wall” or “comment box.” The end result of this Subliminal Theme within our own culture is nothing less than behavioral modification.

Click the picture to learn more about the movie Enemy of the State

Ten years before Eagle Eye came out, there was a movie called, Enemy of the State (1998). This movie starred Will Smith and Gene Hackman. It was about a murder of a politician that was going to resist a law which would increase the surveillance of the American people. Will Smith’s character gets a hold of a video file that proves that the politician was murdered, and bad guys try and get it from Will Smith, and they use every technological means at their disposal. Unlike Eagle Eye, Enemy of the State isn’t about a supercomputer using networked technology. Instead it is focused on the power of the NSA to track and affect people’s digital information such as bank accounts, credit cards, things of that nature. The obvious theme of Enemy of the State is that agencies like the NSA are extremely powerful and that if people abused that power than the average citizen will be faced with serious problems. Another obvious theme in the movie is that people should resist the encroachment of new surveillance measures before it gets too late. But there is a Subliminal Theme, and that is that once you have been detected by the system as a threat, your entire life is completely vulnerable. So the Subliminal Theme motivates the viewer to not anger the system in which we dwell. In the movie, Will Smith’s character didn’t comply with the desires of the agency that was following him and his entire financial life got turned upside down. This Subliminal Theme of basically, “BE GOOD” is completely reinforced by Eagle Eye and expanded upon to be, “BE GOOD, BE AFRAID, and STAY CONNECTED.”

-Tyler

Have you ever wished that there was World Peace but then at the same time had a sinking worry about your security? World Peace and global tranquility could in theory cause our military to become bored and ill-prepared. Besides, the Military-Industrial Complex is integrated with the United States Economy and in many ways we rely on investment into military to fuel research and development for many things. World Peace for many reasons could actually be bad for the economy if no one wanted to purchase or develop weapons and armor anymore. Yet we all deep down desire peace. The idea that we could live in a world where we are free of the threat of war is a noble one. If we didn’t have to worry about war then we could focus on building the strength of our education systems and innovate technology that would benefit consumers directly. Well, we can have World Peace and still satiate the hunger of the Military-Industrial Complex. The answer is simple. We could encourage countries to build up their militaries while at the same time ban war in general.

Now you may be thinking, “If we ban war, what is the point of different countries having a military?” Well the benefits of having a military in a time of total Peace are many. If you don’t have to worry about war, you can use your military for a large number of uses, including: Dealing with riots and unrest, Coping with large natural and unnatural disasters that may require large coordination and security, the economy would still benefit from having research and development into physics and chemistry for the creation of new military technologies, the military of many countries could be used to enforce and sustain World Peace without having to form a large one-world military that could be abused for undesirable purposes, and there would still be militaries that could be utilized in order to protect Earth in the face of some greater off-world threat.

Basically, the Military-Industrial Complex doesn’t need countries to be actually fighting in order for money to be made. There just needs to be a demand for weapons and armor and the advancement of technology that makes old weapons and armor obsolete. The amount of weapons that are actually used in wars each year is far smaller than the amount of weapons and armor that is created and sold. Preparedness is the key for most countries, so they stockpile weapons and train their militaries on how to use them. But in a state of World Peace where no country is at war with each other, some countries may choose to not purchase weapons because they may not see the advantage in doing so, but for the most part countries will want to maintain their military might “just in case” something goes wrong.

You see, the global capitalist system doesn’t really consist of capital (money). Money is just an idea, that has no real value. What the global capitalist system is actually made of is the MOVEMENT of capital. This may seem counter-intuitive but the reality is that the more that money is moved from person to person in the system, the healthier that system becomes. Banks don’t actually make their money from sitting on it. They lend it out to people on a massive scale in order to issue debt and and grow the money supply. That’s why so much is created and wasted in today’s economy. If people were satisfied, and no longer had a desire to purchase new things, or else if people became too self-sufficient by growing their own food or building long-lasting products, the global capitalist system would come to screeching halt. Well in many ways the Military-Industrial Complex is similar to the global capitalist economy. It feeds on the movement of ideas and money and the consumption of surplus as well as new and advanced armaments in order maintain jobs and salaries in the Complex. So one way to see an end to war is to basically give up on disarmament. This may sound crazy at first, but if you think about it long enough it will make sense. If the world stopped trying to disarm and instead decided to ban war and encourage the armament of countries then there would be an increase in the budgets that previously warring countries had for military goods, due to the fact that they would not have to spend money to replace lost, damaged, or destroyed items from the battlefield. Also the amount of money it takes to support an active army overseas is much higher than maintaining a military within your own borders.

Now that we know that the Military-Industrial Complex could still completely function and in many ways could prosper in a time of World Peace. We come to the question: “How could we ban war?” The answer is quite simple. We could basically make it illegal for any country to be at war with another country. And any country that did not stop being at war that was currently at war would be given a simple ultimatum. Any warring country would basically be told that if they didn’t stop their war then all the countries that were currently at war would have to face simultaneous economic and political sanctions from every other country on the planet. And the warring countries would also have to face the entire military might of every other country on Earth. Unfortunately, this ultimatum may cause world war. This is a real risk. But at the same time if we think about how the global capitalist economy is going, there is a real chance of world war anyway.

-Tyler

Did you know that if you order your espresso drink at Peet’s Coffee with less shots than the default amount, they reduce the price? How cool is that! Tonight I went to Peet’s Coffee in Irvine by UCI after going to my Writer’s Group and I ordered a single shot medium latte with whole milk. But what I noticed was that when I ordered the medium latte the cash register said one price, (think it was $3.65). But then the barista inputted some command into the computer and the screen said something like, “Single Shot” or something and then the price was reduced to $3.10!!! It was so cool. I have noticed them doing this before, but tonight I decided to share this tidbit of information with the rest of you out there!

One reason why I get the latte with only one shot is because the coffee at Peet’s tastes great and is pretty strong. So I don’t need a lot of shots in order to get the excellent coffee flavor. The milk is almost always prepared at Peet’s with the utmost care and skill. They consistently make their foam fresher and silkier and tastier than they do at Starbuck’s. I think this is primarily because they use cleaner milk steaming containers and are more mindful when they steam the milk. You see, at Starbuck’s, the baristas often use the same metal container for steaming milk. And some of the baristas that are in a hurry mix already steamed milk with fresh milk and re-steam in order to save time. The problem is, whenever someone does this, the milk doesn’t steam properly and the bubbles don’t form right in the foam. You want small, almost invisible bubbles in your foam. That makes sweet foam. It tastes especially good with whole milk and breve, but you can make good foam with 2% milk also. Now, not all baristas at Starbucks do this bad shortcuts to making foam. The baristas at my local Starbucks do a great job, but I have had bad foam on countless occasions from other Starbucks. While the baristas at Peet’s Coffee almost always make amazing foam.

At Starbucks, it doesn’t matter if you get less than the regular amount of shots in your drink. You will still have to pay the “full amount of shots in your drink” price. I really like that Peet’s Coffee charges you less if you get let’s espresso shots in your drink. It rewards you for customization and for people that are watching their caffeine intake it is nice. So next time you order a medium or larger sized latte at Peet’s and you want it cheaper than the regular price, tell the barista that you want a single shot medium latte and keep an eye on the display on the register. If the barista knows what he/she is doing he will probably reduce the price for your benefit.

I hope this little tip is helpful to you and your caffeine ingesting ways. Maybe it will help your wallet if you get coffee often. Also weaning yourself of shots in your drink is a great way to lessen your caffeine intake if you are trying to cut back. Especially since the espresso at Peet’s is full flavored and you don’t need that many shots to have a satisfying latte.

-Tyler